http://www.adrianbrockless.com en-gb adrianbrockless.com 2012-4-7T00:00:00Z adrianbrockless.com http://www.adrianbrockless.com/page6.htm#116002 From 06042012 onwards all wildlife posts will be at httpadrianbrockless.blogspot.co.ukPosts on everything else will remain here 2012-4-7 00:39:02 http://www.adrianbrockless.com/page6.htm#108463 This is a video I took today of two ShortEared Owls and a Barn Owl quartering Papercourt Meadows near Send in Surrey. The quality is rather grainy Im afraid as the footage was taken at sunset and the sky was cloudy. Click HERE to view the video. 2011-12-6 13:03:27 http://www.adrianbrockless.com/page6.htm#107260 The majority of people understand the need for a stable economy and what measures are needed to attain it. Similarly academics and students understand that they should not be immune from the consequences of the economic crisis. It is not however in anyones interest to limit education to answerability to social and economic impact. There are obvious difficulties in quantifying what that amounts to but the idea that one should pursue this form of simplification of education is dangerous. Relinquishing the teaching of some of the great literary historical and philosophical texts of the past as Raimond Gaita put it because their teaching is not thought of as something that will have social and economic impact is already resulting in many graduates entering the adult world unaware of the foundations of their innermost desires and obligations. What is more worrying is the thought by implication that the understanding of these things doesnt matter beyond its ability to have social and econo... 2011-11-21 19:46:14 http://www.adrianbrockless.com/page6.htm#98712 We are now into the last few weeks in which Swifts can be seen. By the end of this month most pairs will have fledged young and be heading back to their wintering grounds in the southern half of Africa. Exploiters of old cavitysaturated building s these birds save for feeding their young during the breeding season are almost exclusively aerial. They eat sleep drink and even mate on the wing. Swifts have no legs just clawlike feet with which they can cling to the sides of buildings and scramble in and out of cavities in which they have nested to feed their young. If grounded it is very unlikely that they can become airborne again without assistance. They are the ultimate creatures of the air. For the time being the remaining birds can be seen screaming down alleyways near their nest sites particularly during the morning. My nearest colony utilises some of the older buildings adjacent to Jenner Road in Guildford they also nest in Guildford Castle. Make the most of Swifts in the coming... 2011-7-18 15:53:55 http://www.adrianbrockless.com/page6.htm#98709 On 16th July I made a short visit to Boldermere a lake on Wisley Common in Surrey adjacent to the A3 just south of junction 10 of the M25 to establish whether or not there were once again breeding Common Terns. A few years ago a couple of pairs established themselves on an artificial raft that had been floated on the lake for that purpose. Sadly a couple of years later vandals either waded the lake is not deep or boated out to the raft and destroyed it. The raft was replaced with two smaller rafts in time for this years breeding season. Happily my visit which was long overdue was rewarded. I observed three birds two adults a pair and one recently fledged juvenile pictured top left I doubt it will be long before these elegant terns depart for their West African wintering grounds. Much praise to Surrey Wildlife Trust for persisting with the tern raft policy. Other than that my visit was a quiet one though there were over 75 Coots plus a surprisingly small number of fledged birds giv... 2011-7-16 15:38:08 http://www.adrianbrockless.com/page6.htm#98224 Consecutive visits to Bookham Common in Surrey on 4th and 5th of July proved wonderfully productive for woodland butterflies the ancient oak woodland with its diverse ground layer of plants provides excellent habitat for the full lifecycle of many such butterflies. Parking at 100 Pound Bridge Car park the first butterfly I encountered as I got out of the car was the magnificent SilverWashed Fritillary these are relatively abundant in any glade on the common and I never tire of watching them. Another great spectacle was the flitflitglide flight of the White Admiral though slightly less numerous this butterfly is almost exclusively confined to Oak woodlands of Southern England. My main motivation for visiting the common was to catch a glimpse of the rare and wonderful Purple Emperor butterfly. It is Britians second largest butterfly the largest being the Swallowtail and for me is the ultimate woodland butterfly ferociously territorial males battle with each other in the Oak canopy. So... 2011-7-6 16:08:37 http://www.adrianbrockless.com/page6.htm#107258 The majority of people understand the need for a stable economy and what measures are needed to attain it. Similarly academics and students understand that they should not be immune from the consequences of the economic crisis. It is not however in anyones interest to limit education to answerability to social and economic impact. There are obvious difficulties in quantifying what that amounts to but the idea that one should pursue this form of simplification of education is dangerous. Relinquishing the teaching of some of the great literary historical and philosophical texts of the past because their teaching is not thought of as something that will have social and economic impact is already resulting in many graduates entering the adult world unaware of the foundations of their innermost desires and obligations. What is more worrying is the thought by implication that the understanding of these things doesnt matter beyond its ability to have social and economic impact. Yes there... 2010-11-16 19:14:49 http://www.adrianbrockless.com/page6.htm#107257 07042010 Support for Expression in The Arts Click HERE 2010-4-7 19:11:42 http://www.adrianbrockless.com/page6.htm#107256 There are several dimensions to the recent public discussions and arguments concerning climate change that raise interesting questions. Among the most obvious of these dimensions has been the polarization of the debate into climate change scepticism the idea that climate change is not happening and the idea that climate change is entirely the product of human activity. On both sides there has been a good deal of rhetoric designed to support the positions advocated much of it at the expense of informed and reasoned argument and much of it dressed up to look like evidence. It is not a reasonable thing to say that the climate is not changing climate change is a reality. Similarly is it not reasonable to say that the amount of carbon dioxide and methane and in the atmosphere has little or any effect on surface meteorology. Nonetheless it is mistaken to believe that climate change is entirely the product of human activity. In the following paragraphs I shall try to articulate why that... 2009-12-16 19:09:19